Physical examination

Auscultation is usually done using a tool called a stethoscope. Health care providers routinely listen to a patient's lungs, heart, and intestines to evaluate the frequency, intensity, duration, number, and quality of sounds.

Health care providers also use auscultation to listen to the heart sounds of unborn infants. This can be performed with a stethoscope or with sound waves (called Doppler ultrasound). It can also be used to hear pulses in the hands and feet.

Auscultation - illustration

Auscultation is a method used to "listen" to the sounds of the body during a physical examination by using a stethoscope. A patient's lungs, heart, and intestines are the most common organs heard during auscultation.

Auscultation

illustration

Auscultation - illustration

Auscultation is a method used to "listen" to the sounds of the body during a physical examination by using a stethoscope. A patient's lungs, heart, and intestines are the most common organs heard during auscultation.

Auscultation

illustration

Related Information

Review Date:
5/29/2011

Reviewed By:
David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.